Former Church of England leader faces potential disciplinary action over handling of abuse claims

The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey leads a morning worship service at the United Methodist Church General Conference in Cleveland on May 10, 2000. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

LONDON (AP) — A former leader of the Church of England is among several members of the clergy facing potential disciplinary action over the way the institution handled sexual abuse allegations, church officials said Tuesday.

George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, resigned as a priest in December after media reports that he allowed the Rev. David Tudor, who had been banned over sexual abuse claims, to return to priesthood in the 1990s.

The church’s national safeguarding team said Tuesday it is seeking to bring disciplinary proceedings against Carey and nine other clergy over potential failures in a separate abuse case.

In November, the church published an independent report concluding that serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps was known about and not acted upon by various people within the church.

The report said Carey had been informed of the serious physical and sexual abuse by the volunteer, prominent lawyer John Smyth, and that he had been sent a copy of a previous report into it, “but he denies seeing it.”

That inquiry also found that Justin Welby, the church’s former head and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, failed to tell police what he knew about the allegations against Smyth. Welby resigned last year.

Smyth, who is believed to have targeted more than 100 young boys and men over five decades, died in 2018 in Cape Town while he was under investigation by police.

Alexander Kubeyinje, the Church of England’s national director of safeguarding, said the church was “truly sorry” for the harms caused to survivors and victims of abuse by Smyth.

“We know this will never undo the harm caused but the Church is committed to taking very seriously its response to the findings of the review as well as responding to its recommendations,” he said.

The Associated Press